Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Light
by Shauney
Summary: In a world of Darkness, a human turned Cyndaquil teams up with a Squirtle and embarks on a journey for salvation.
1. Chapter 1: Shock

**Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Light**

**Chapter One**

It was nearly nightfall when a small Squirtle scampered throught the undergrowth, terrified, shivering from cold and completely alone.

"I... I need to g-get... _away_!" It cried to no one in particular. It nearly collapsed from exhaustion right then and there but it had to keep going. It deftly jumped over rocks and logs in a forest it knew so well. The Squirtle flinched in mid-run when a loud roar resounded a great distance aways.

"No... I-I can't l-let it _get_ me!"

The Squirtle then came to a stop under a huge tree, casting a fearful glance behind him. Seeing that nothing was coming, he curled into a tiny ball, nestled into the huge rippling roots of the tree. "T-this wasn't s-supposed to h-happen!" He sobbed to himself. The little Squirtle stiffened when he heard a loud rumble. "Oh no," he muttered.

The Squirtle made to stand, when suddenly, his foot gave way. "_Aghhhh_," he squealed. The Squirtle fixed his eyes onto his foot, his tiny leg sunk into the stinking mud of the ground. And with a horrifying realization, the little Squirtle suddenly realized where he was.

"_Sunken Swamp_," he whispered. An ominous feeling rose up inside him, but he dispelled it without a thought. _It _was coming and he needed to get away before _it _caught him. There was another rumble and the little Squirtle flinched before casting a glance to the sky. He visibly relaxed when he saw that it was only the dark purple sky, there was nothing unusual about that, only the black clouds that promised steady rain for the first time in months.

He heard another loud rumble before the white flash of lightning streaked across the sky. The Squirtle watched as the first raindrops of the season fell from the black clouds, hitting the dusty ground with a faint 'trickle'. Soon, the rain was falling hard and fast, staining the ground with its heavy fall.

The little Squirtle himslef wasn't bothered by the rain, in fact, he relished it, for there was never rainfall near the shrunken pond that he lived. The water of the pond itself was a murky brown and it provided no comfort whatsoever for the Squirtle when he bathed, it also tasted terrible wen he had had to drink from it instead of from the Spearow reservoir.

But that was all behind him now since _it_ had arrived. _It _was a terrifying monster that the little Squirtle could not describe with words. _It _had come suddenly out of nowhere in a flash of teeth and claws. _It _had driven every Pokémon out of their home, including him. _It _had feasted on the corpses of dozens of Pokémon who had dared defy it. _It_ had almost eaten him. The little Squirtle suddenly felt a rush of hate for the heartless monster that had driven him away from his home. But he knew that _It _was still lurking around, hunting and lusting for flesh and blood.

The little Squirtle suddenly remembered where he was, especially where his leg was. He looked down, his leg was currently enveloped in the soft gooey mud of the swamp. "I wonder..." he muttered. The little Squirtle experimently twisted his leg around, he yelped when it didn't come free, instead choosing to sink in deeper. The Squirtle frantically twisted his body around, but it was all for naught as it only sank in deeper.

"Is... is this how... I... die...?"

The little Squirtle gasped in horror when his entire body, up to his shoulders.

"ANSWER ME ARCEUS!" He screamed.

The last thing the little Squirtle saw before he succumbed to darkness was the dark purple sky, its black clouds harshly standing out from the rest.

_"WAAAAAA!"_

The little Squirtle groaned when he came to.

"Where... where am I...?"

He moaned in pain, his entire body shuddering. He felt like a giant bruise, his body must have taken a huge fall, even if he himself didn't remember it. It was then that he realized something was laying beside him. His body gave an almighty flinch, he jumped away from the _thing_.

If it _was _a 'thing'. The little Squirtle took a closer look at it, fixing his eyes onto the form lying perfectly still a few metres away on the cold hard ground. But it wasn't an object, it was a Pokémon. But was it dead? The Squirtle took a closer look. No, it wasn't dead. The Pokémon's chest was gently rising up and down with each soft breath it took. But what type of Pokémon _was_ it?

It was covered in greenish coloured fur, tiny dots aligned the entirety of its back. Its large eyes were tightly squeezed shut as if it refused to open them again. From the distance he was at, the little Squirtle could clearly see the cream coloured fur covering its belly as well as the tiny razor sharp claws aligning its hands and feet.

It was a Cyndaquil.

"But how...?" The little Squirtle wondered. Cautiosly, he approached the slumbering Cyndaquil. It didn't look dangerous, only... vulnerable. Knowing that this was possibly the stupidest thing he could possibly do, the little Squirtle hesitantly reached out a tiny paw and lightly touched the Cyndaquil on its shoulder. Almost instantly, the Cyndaquil curled in on itself.

"Five more minutes..." it muttered.

The little Squirtle's heart leaped in its throat. It wasn't a wild, it could speak. Completely forgetting where he was, the Squirtle playfully shot out a short burst of water before watching in horror as it flew ahead and splashed against the _Cyndaquil's _shoulder. It woke up immediately with a pained yelp, its eyes still squeezed shut as it wildly looked for the perpetrator.

The Cyndaquil flinched when it sensed nothing.

"W-who's there?" Its voice quivered slightly and the little Squirtle could easily guess that it was terrified.

"H-hello?"

Hesitantly, the Squirtle padded up to the terrified Pokémon and lightly touched it on the shoulder as he had done before. The Cyndaquil flinched a little at the sudden contact but relaxed when it realized no one was going to hurt it.

"Are you okay?" The Squirtle asked.

"Ye-yeah, yeah I am," the Cyndaquil said before scratching its head.

"Well, who _are_ you?" The Squirtle demanded, his face tightening in impatience. "There aren't supposed to be any Cyndaquil around here!"

"Cyndaquil?" The Cyndaquil muttered. "Why would there be any Cyndaquil around? A Cyndaquil's... a... Pokémon."

"You... you didn't hit your head too hard when you fell down here did you?" The Squirtle asked, tilting his head oddly at the statement."

"I... I think I _did_ hit it pretty hard," the Cyndaquil admitted, rubbing its forehead. "I don't even know where I am... but you... _WAAAA!"_

"What?!" The Squirtle demanded.

"You-You're a Pokémon! And you talk!"

"Of course I talk," the Squirtle retorted. "You talk as well Cyndaquil!" 

"I'm not a Cyndaquil!" It yelped. "I'm... I'm a human!"

"_Human_!" The Squirtle yelped back. "You look like a perfectly normal Cyndaquil to me! Are you _sure_ that you didn't hit your head on the way down here?!"

"I... I don't know," the Cyndaquil admitted. "I... I can't remember!"

"Well, can you remember your name at least?" The Squirtle asked. "Mine's Oren."

"Um... well..." Cyndaquil racked its brain for answers. "It-It's Aren. My name is Aren!"

Oren scratched his head. "So... you're a human who has amnesia and can only remember your name?"

Aren nodded.

"Can you at least remember how you got here?"

Aren shook his head. "No... I can't remember _anything_!" He stressed, his voice going a pitch higher in his panic.

"It's alright," Oren soothed.

"But... wait, how did _you _get in here?"

Oren plastered a sheepish smile onto his face. "Well... there was this _thing _that's chasing me, it wants to eat me." At Aren's gasp of horror, he continued. "Anyway, about a week ago, it suddenly came swooping in, I don't know what it looks like by the way. But it's a terrifying monster that took away my home, killing any Pokémon who dares to defy it. It killed my parents..." he trailed off sadly. Suddenly, Oren looked straight at Aren.

"Hey, how about we make a deal."

Aren nervously fiddled with one of his claws. Finally, he said, "What type of deal?"

"You be my friend and me help me get away from _It_ and in return, I'll teach you how to be a Pokémon."

_Be his friend? _Aren nervously stared into Oren's earnest face. _I suppose I could be his friend, besides, he said that he'll teach me how to be a Pokémon!_

"Deal." Aren extended a paw to seal the deal, but Oren tackled him instead. He grunted when his head smashed against the floor. He could see only blue and stars. Thankfully, Oren noticed his discomfort and disentangled himself from the stunned Cyndaquil on the floor.

"Sorry," Oren laughed sheepishly as Aren painfully pulled himslef up from the ground.

"So, how do we get out of he-" Aren was cut off when Oren suddenly clapped a paw to his mouth.

"_Quiet_!" He hissed. Aren stared at his face in confusion, he could clearly see Oren's eyes, but the swirling grey depths only showed panic and fear.

"_Mmmff_," Aren tried to say something but it was muffled by Oren's paw. When the Squirtle _finally _removed his paw, he stared straight into the closed eyes of Aren's face.

"Aren," he said slowly. "We're in a Mystery Dungeon."


	2. Chapter 2: Sunken Swamp

**Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Light**

**Chapter Two**

**Sunken Swamp 1F**

"Mystery Dungeon?" Aren repeated, confusion written all over his face. "What's that?"

"A Mystery Dungeon is a cursed maze that a Pokémon can easily get lost in. _This _is a Mystery Dungeon."

"A cursed maze?"

"Yes, a cursed maze, nobody knows how a Mystery Dungeon coems into being. It's just... there. Supposedly, if you faint, you'll wake outside the entrance with half your items and almost all your money gone. And everytime you go inside the same Mystery Dungeon, it's said to have... changed."

"Oh," Aren said in understanding. "So this is a Mystery Dungeon?"

Oren nodded.

_So this is a Mystery Dungeon... _Aren gazed at his surroundings in wonder. There was a straight path with many twists and turns but he could clearly see the overgrown trees and bushes surrounding the paths.

"We'd better start walking before wild Pokémon come upon us."

"Wild Pokémon!" Aren all but yelped.

Oren nodded gravely. "There's always wild Pokémon in a Dungeon so you always have to be prepared."

"Prepared to do what?"

"Fight."

Aren reeled away in shock, his eyes inspecting the tiny claws on his paws.

"Are you coming?"

With a start, Aren realized that Oren had already started up the path. Numble, Aren started to follow, the rotten, dead leaves crunching under the pads of his feet.

"What do you mean 'fight'?!" Aren demanded. "I don't know how to fight! C-can't we just tell them _not_ to attack us?!"

"Wild Pokémon can't talk and they'll attack anything they'll see. We just have to avoid them and keep an eye out for the staircase."

"Staircase?"

"The staircase that will lead us to the next floor-"

Oren was suddenly cut off when Aren seemingly tripped over nothing. The little Cyndaquil flushed in embarrassment when he pulled himself to his feet. Aren was about to say something when something caught his eye.

"Hey look!"

Oren turned around to where Aren was pointing. A tall winding staircase was seen at the back of the cramped chamber. Aren excitedly took off and was already halfway by the time Oren even strated climbing

**Sunken Swamp 2F**

"So, what are you trying to get from?" Aren demanded as they started to explore the second floor.

"I already _told_ you Aren," Oren retorted. "I don't _know _what it was, just that I had to get _away _from it as fast as I could. Hey Arne, why don't you try leading the way this time?"

"Sure," Aren mumbled. He quickly took lead and began a random path around a corner.

"So, what _is _this place?"

"We're in a region called Ferrys. It's a dark miserable place with plenty of violence and killing, not to mention an evil Pokémon controlling the whole thing," Oren exclaimed bitterly.

"Whose the Pokémon?"

"Primal Dialga."

"Primal Dialga?" Aren repeated in confusion. "Who's that?"

"An extremely evil Pokémon that no one's ever seen before, he rules Ferrys with an iron fist. Anyone who dares to defy him will be... killed."

_Killed? _Aren thought in horror. _This 'Primal Dialga' truly must be an evil Pokémon if Oren hates him so much._

"Aren!" Oren cried out. "Aren! LOOK OUT!"

Acting on instict alone, Aren dropped to the floor in fright, his paws covering his head. He distinctly heard the sounds of screeching and heavy breathing.

"It's an Eevee!" Oren yelled. "Get ready!"

The Eevee charged toward Oren with its yells of _"Vee! Vee!" _as it attacked. Oren quickly jumped out of the Eevee's way and let it bash its head into a tree.

Aren leaned against a tree, breathing heavily as his paws clenched against the rotting wood of the trunk. He watched as the Eevee, once again charged at Oren. But the Squirtle retaliated by shooting a spray of water at the wild Pokémon. The Eevee fell into a surprised heap on the floor, rotting leaves crunching loudly as it did so.

"Is... is it dead?" Aren gasped.

"Dead? Hardly," Oren scoffed. "It's just knocked out. It takes a lot more than _that _to kill a Pokémon."

Climbing back to his feet, Aren went to inspect the fallen Eevee. Indeed, its fur was only heavily soaked with water, and was still breathing strongly.

"You know," Oren said. "You could have at least _fought_ instead of being a coward. You've got claws as well as fire."

"I don't know how to fight!" Aren retorted.

"_Every_ Pokémon knows how to fight," Oren insisted. "Follow your instincts next time."

Aren took one last look at the fallen Eevee before he joined Oren and they resumed their exploration of the rest of the floor.

**Sunken Swamp 3F**

"How many floors does this Dungeon have?" Aren asked as they explored the third floor.

"No one knows," Oren answered.

They continued in silence as they explored the rest of the floor. They came upon a few rogue Pokémon that Oren was easily able to scare away before they found the staircase.

**Sunken Swamp 4F**

"You seem to be pretty good at fighting," Aren said to Oren as they were walking. Suddenly, he felt a great stabbing pain in his stomach, he bent over and groaned, clutching his stomach.

"You hungry too?" Oren asked.

"Y-yeah," Aren managed to mumble out between clenched teeth.

"That's the other thing about Mystery Dungeons. You heal faster than normal but you get hungrier faster. So if you get too hungry... you faint."

"Did you bring any food?" Aren asked.

"No," Oren said regretfully. "I was in too much of a hurry trying to escape from _It_ to even think about food. Sorry Aren." 

"How about we try to _find _food?" Aren suggested.

"That's a great idea, Aren I didn't even think of that!"

"Good."

Aren suddenly turned off the path and entered a secluded area of the Dungeon, Oren followed behind.

"Hey Aren, look!"

Aren looked to where Oren was pointing too. In the furtherest corner of the room was an apple. It was slightly rotten with a few bite marks, but that was not what Aren was staring at. He was staring at a Pokémon red-brown feathers and a powerful orange beak.

A Spearow.

But something wasn't right, it wasn't moving. Was it dead?

"It's asleep," Oren said. "You can get the apple Aren."

With a deep sigh, Aren set off to the darkest corner of the room, careful not to make a sound. As he closed in, he could barely hear the soft whistling of the bird's nostrils as it breathed. He stood for a moment, a few metres away as he watched the bird's feathery chest rise and fall as it took a breath.

Casting a glance back at Oren, Aren continued onward to the apple. He was nearly there before he tripped, right on to the Spearow. It was awake in an instant, squawking angrily as its small beady eyes searched for the perpetrator that had landed on it. Its eyes suddenly landed on Aren and it squawked before shooting into the air.

"AREN! LOOK OUT!"

_Screeeeeeeeeeeee_

Aren looked up in horror as the Spearow came shooting down, its sharp beak collided with the top of his head.

_"Yeeeeeeaaaagghhhhhhhhh!"_

In his surprise and anger, flames shot up from his back and seared the Spearow's face.

_Kiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii_

The Spearow flew away, furiously batting at its seared face with its wings. Aren flinched when he felt the searing hot pain of his wound, he desperately blinked away the blood in his eyes when Oren shot the Spearow with a powerful blast of water. The bird squawked angrily when it collided painfully with the ground.

_Raaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaw_

The Spearow flapped its wings and darted into the air. With a sick sense of pleasure, Aren realized something. _Its face is burned!_ He thought in glee. Indeed it was, the Spearow's face was a mass of badly burned flesh, many of the feathers on its face had been burned off.

And then it dived, Oren's yell of pain was shrill and loud as the Spearow pecked sharply at any exposed bit of flesh. Oren was soon sporting many shallow gashes that bled out blood.

"Ack! HELP ME AREN!"

_Screeeeeeeeeeeeee_

Aren saw red, hot flames burst to life, shooting out of his back. He opened his mouth for an almight roar, but instead, he breathed out fire. He heard the Spearow's squawk of pain and charged foreward, slashing blindly with his tiny claws. He cried out in pain when something raked arcoss his body but he kept his cool and kept slashing at the air.

He was soon rewarded with a loud squawk of pain. There was a loud thump and after the dust had cleared, Aren could clearly see the twisted bloody of the Spearow lying a few metres away. It wasn't dead as the rise and fall of its chest indicated that it was still alive as it took shallow breathes.

"Aren," Oren gasped. "You did it!"

"Yeah," Aren wheezed. "But it feels like I'm gonna die!"

"Me too," Oren groaned. "Hey Aren, the apple!"

_Oh yeah, the apple _Aren thought in bemusement. The Cyndaquil practically bounced over to the apple. He picked it up and bit a large hunk out of it. His face scrunched up at the taste.

"What's wrong?" Oren asked.

"It's just... ewww. It tastes like dirt and leaves." Aren still ate it and handed Oren his half. The Squirtle produced the same expression on his face when he took a bite.

"Egghhh... you're right Aren, it _does_ taste disgusting." Aren snickered at Oren's expression as the Squirtle ate the apple. After that, Oren couldn't stop grimacing as they explored the rest of the floor.

**Spearow Reservoir**

It was very early morning and still raining hard when the two companions finally exited the Dungeon. Aren gazed in wonder at his surroundings. The sky was a dark purple and the rain pelted down hard. In front of them was a huge lake filled to the brim with murky bown water and poisonous purple sludge. When the rain hit Aren for the first time, he found himself hissing in pain as it aggrivated the deep wounds on his body.

"I hate the rain," Aren said, grimacing as a particularly large raindrop hit the wound on the top of his head. He was about to say something else when he was suddenly cut off as something huge burst out of the reservoir.

_Grrrroooooaaaaggggghhhh_

Beside him, oren was quivering in fear.

"What is it?" Aren asked.

"I-It's... _It_."


	3. Chapter 3: It

**Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Light**

**Chapter Three**

"_It_...?"

_It_ landed onto the ground with a great crash. The creature possessed a long sepentine tail, two large red wings grew out of its back, deep blue scales decorated its body and hard white scales flaked across its underside. Razor white claws aligned each of its toes. But that was not what had Aren reeling back in fear. It was its eyes. Cold black orbs studied both Pokémon before the creature bared its teeth in a snarl revealing blood tipped teeth, teeth that could easily rip both him and Oren to shreds. Aren suddenly realized what _It_ was.

_It_ was a Salamence.

"It's a Salamence," Oren whimpered. "H-how are we supposed to defeat _that_?!"

In response, the Salamence let out a loud roar.

_GGGGRRROOOOAAAAARRRRRRR_

Aren shivered, a cold feeling rose up inside him.

"That's the thing," Aren whispered. "We _can't _defeat it. It's way too powerful."

"W-we can try, Aren. We can try to defeat it."

"We could barely beat that Spearow!" Aren hissed. "What makes you think that we can beat a _Salamence _of all thing?! We'll just be knocked out!"

Suddenly, both Pokémon were knocked aside by a powerful beam of energy. Aren groaned feeling uncounsciousness pulling at his subconscious. _No... I... cannot... faint... _

He gritted his teeth before painfully pulling himself to his feet. He squinted as dark spots danced in his line of vision.

"... O-Oren..."

The Squirtle grunted in reply, his tail twitching and his shoulders shuddering.

"... W-what... was... t-that...?" Aren gasped.

"...H-Hyper... Beam..."

"... H-how... do we... defeat _that_?"

Oren looked to the ground, his tail drooping.

"I don't know..."

Once he was sure that he had recovered enough energy to at least stand, Aren pulled himself to his feet and glanced at Oren. The Squirtle's eyes were glazed, as if he was calculating something complex in his head.

"You could spray it with water," he suggested.

"Okay," Oren said. "I can try..."

Both Pokémon glanced at the Salamence, the huge dragon looked smug and extremely pleased of itself. When they were sure that it wouldn't attack right away, Aren made a gesture. Oren nodded and took a deep breath.

"NOW!" Aren yelled.

Oren opened his mouth and shot the spray of water at the grinning dragon, who, by then, had had to rest after using such an energy consuming move. Due to being out of energy, the attack hit the Salamence directly in the face. The huge dragon stumbled back with a rorar of protest as perspiration immediately invaded its line of sight.

"AGAIN!"

Oren was left gasping when he shot the second spray of water out, it was a particularly powerful shot of water but it missed the Salamence entirely who, by then, had recovered from its earlier surprise and easily sidestepped the attack. Aren watched in horror as the huge dragon grinned, revealing razor sharp teeth and a bright red tongue that lolled hungrily at the sight of them.

Suddenly, it opened its great big mouth. Something started to form between its teeth. It grew bigger and bigger until it was the size of a ball. It was bright orange in colour and made of some sort of fiery energy. Suddenly, Aren knew what it was. _Hyper Beam _his mind screamed.

"DUCK!"

Aren swerved to the left just as the attack hit where he had been standing seconds earlier. It exploded upon impact and the Cyndaquil was left gagging at the noise it made. A loud bang. Oren moaned in discomfort, clutching his paws to his face. The Salamence let out a loud roar, thick saliva dribbled between its teeth and streamed down its maw. Oren whimpered, his small shoulders shuddering and his clear grey eyes dialated from fear.

"I h-hate this!"

Aren stared at the little Squirtle who was clearly terrified of the current happenings.

"We'll defeat it Oren," he soothed. He then stared reputedly at the Salamence.

"We _have _to."

The Salamence roared again, its bright red tongue flapping through its maw. Aren stared at it, remembered the destruction that Oren had spoke of, and remembered the destruction it caused in a short week.

And almost as if called, something intense burned in his stomach. It bubbled up his throat and into his mouth.

_Here it comes!_

Aren closed his eyes and opened his mouth. Almost instantly, hot embers bubbled out and spilled onto the ground. And that was when his eyes shot open and he took a deep breath. Large flames shot out and streamed toward the ferocious dragon.

The attack hit the Salamence dead in the face. It roared with fury and waved its great head about but Aren was unwavering, the flames spilled out unrelentlessly. Oren watched, entranced as the flames swirled around in the air a bright orange.

The little Squirtle plastered a determined expression on his face. He took a deep breath and shot a blast of water at the Salamence. Oren couldn't help but feel a sick sense of pleasure as he hit the dragon; this spray of water was stronger than anything he'd ever conjured in his short life.

Soon, Aren was struggling to hold his fire and, somehow, the dragon sensed it.

Its large obsidian gaze soon snapped to his shut eyed one.

The Salamence's maw upturned, revealing the razor sharp teeth that both Cyndaquil and Squirtle had become accustomed to.

Realizing with horror what the dragon was about to do, Aren snapped his mouth shut and was soon rewarded with a searing pain on his tongue. In his fear, he'd bitten it.

He tasted something metallic, his blood.

"Move ta side," Aren slurred, when he spoke, thick red blood escaped his lips and dribbled down his chin.

The Salamence immediately began charging its Hyper Beam; the bright orange ball quickly grew bigger with each breath it took. When it was ready, the dragon snapped its maw shut and launched it. The beam of energy came along so quickly that Aren was left whimpering and flinching when it hit.

His vision was quickly blurring, dark spots danced in his vision.

"N-no," he moaned, rolling over. He shakily propped himself up on his tiny arms and panted, watching as rivulets of blood trickled down his face and splattered to the ground. Heavy breathing invaded his line of hearing and Aren's eyes perked up.

Up ahead, the Salamence was half collapsed on the ground, regaining its energy. It looked awful, with parts of its face charred black and splattered with water.

Another moan caught his attention and he painfully craned his neck to see Oren collapsed on the ground. His skin was aligned with painful looking burns, gashes and bloody scratches. He looked even worse than the Salamence.

"I... c-can't... d-do this... a-anymore..." His new friend was breathing heavily and his gray eyes were dilated from the pain and terror of the battle.

"I... t-told... you t-that... we c-couldn't beat it."

"We have to at least try," Aren wheezed. Though being hit by two Hyper Beams, he guessed that their odds were against them.

_GGGGGGRRRRROOOOOOOAAAAGGGGHHHH_

With renewed horror, Aren glanced over his shoulder. The Salamence had recovered from its brief loss of energy and was ready to fight again. _No doubt launch another Hyper Beam! _He thought angrily.

No sooner had he thought it, that it happened.

Aren barely managed to dodge the explosive attack with his severely weakened body.

After a brief pause, the Salamence charged the attack again. In his moment of fear, Aren's eyes snapped open and the horrible attack was reflected onto his red orbs.

But something happened, the attack was deflected back and he could clearly hear the Salamence's roars of pain.

Aren whimpered when his vision darkened, his blood covered paws reached to the sky in one last act of salvation.

The last thing he saw was a Pokémon's face, fierce red eyes burning into his own before his vision faded to black.


	4. Chapter 4: Ember

**Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Light**

**Chapter Four**

**. . .**

Everywhere was white, Aren was transfixed. In front of him stood a creature of extraordinary size, it was like nothing he'd ever seen before.

_What are you? _Aren wondered. Suddenly, the creature bowed its head and the Cyndaquil caught a glimpse of a pair of glowing red eyes. Something flashed and everything faded to red. Aren flinched when icy coldness ran through his body, his tiny shoulders shuddered as the great creature roared. But then something caught his eye, a great ruby rested on its chest. It was blood red and pulsed with the very life of the creature.

But Aren didn't know _what _the creature was. It was huge and magnificent. But Aren could hardly concentrate over the aura of anger and greed it was emnating. The creature's face was impassive but Aren could _sense_ its anger as if it were really _telling _him.

And then everything exploded. Aren cried out as the redness engulfed him.

**. . .**

Aren shot up with a gasp and blinked away the crust in his eyes. Something underneath him crunched as he stretched his cramped body. Aren became aware of soft breathing beside him and he turned to see Oren lying on his side facing him, his eyes squeezed shut and a peaceful smile alight on his lips.

_Where are we? _He wondered. He quietly shook Oren as he took in his surroundings. They were in a cave and Aren knew it was still raining hevily outside from the hard pitter patters on the ground. Both him and Oren were laying on a bed of dry leaves that cracked with every move he made. He also noticed that they were completely healed but dirty if his blood matted fur was anything to go by.

_"Oren," _Aren hissed. _"Wake up!"_

The little Squirtle groaned before his eyes fluttered open. Aren had never felt so glad to see the familiar grey depths in his life.

"Where are we?" Oren asked, his voice still thick with the heavy metallic tang of sleep. Aren watched as the Squirtle pulled himself to a sitting position. And before Aren could answer the question, another voice spoke.

"You are in the caves of Spearow Reservior, situated on the cliffs of where that _Salamence_ made its home," both Pokémon clearly heard the scorn in the voice when it spoke of the Salamence. Aren and Oren watched as a figure slowly made way into the damp lightness of the cave and out of the shadows.

The Pokémon was tall and covered in greenish coloured fur, but the fur on its underside was cream coloured, much like Aren's was. A ring of flames around its neck flickered and licked at the air every now and then. Its fierce eyes were a deep red and with a jolt, Aren realised that this was the same Pokémon that had saved them from the Salamence back in the Reservoir.

It was a Typhlosion.

"Are you feeling well?" The Typhlosion asked, its voice was gruff but Aren could sense a kindness buried deep down.

"We're feeling just fine," Oren answered for both of them. "Other than the muck on our skin, we're completely healed." At the mention of the blood on his skin, the little Squirtle shuddered.

"You should be," another voice sounded, this voice was unnaturally deep and raspy. Aren jerked when, suddenly, there was a

Pokémon standing beside the Typhlosion looking completely composed. "After all the trouble that we took to bring you here as well as using up our supplies."

_Who is that? _Aren thought in puzzlement. It was dark blue and had a red underbelly. It had appendages resembling fins on its arms, back and tail. It had spikes on its limbs and razor sharp claws as well as a long tail.

_"Hydro," _the Typhlosion groaned, sounding long suffering. The Gabite, however, didn't seem concerned with the Typhlosion's change of mood. The Gabite, for its part, merely waved its arms at the little Pokémon who shuddered at the sharp tips of the fins, knowing perfectly well that the Gabite could chop them into little pieces without breaking a sweat.

"Now, Ember, these _children _shouldn't have needed our help in the first place if they hadn't wondered into a Mystery Dungeon," the Gabite sneered.

"It wasn't their fault," the Typhlosion retorted with unflappible patience.

At that, Aren was glad to see the Gabite huff.

"They should have known better anyway."

"Actually," Oren interjected. "We had no way of knowing it it _was _a Mystery Dungeon."

"And why is that?" The Gabite sneered.

"Because," Aren said. "We were trying to get away from that Salamence."

"What _I'd _like to know," the Typhlosion interjected. "Is _how _you managed to encounter that Salamence and _what_ you were doing there. Mystery Dungeons are not a place for children and aren't meant to be taken lightly."

"We know," Oren said, his grey eyes huge. "But we just had to get _away_ from it."

"Yet you stumbled right into its trap!" The Gabite taunted.

"_Enough _Hydro!" The Typhlosion suddenly snapped. "Do not take your rage out on these poor children. It was not their fault."

"What wasn't our fault?" Aren asked bravely.

"I cannot explain that to you, Cyndaquil. But that Salamence you fought was an outlaw."

_"Outlaw?!" _Oren yelped.

The Typhlosion nodded gravely. "An outlaw wanted for the killings of many Pokémon. An outlaw we just took down a few hours ago."

"Wait," Aren interjected. "How long have we been asleep for?"

"A few hours," the Gabite said, before the Typhlosion could answer. "We should've just left you there, but _no_, Ember _just _had to _insist_ that we stay put and wait for you brats to wake up."

"Who's Ember?" Oren asked.

"That would be me," the Typhlosion said. "And the Gabite next to me is called Hydro."

Hydro for his part, merely shot a distasteful glance at them and sneered. Ember sighed. "Don't mind him, he is particularly snarky at other Pokémon, especially children."

"Why?" Aren piped up.

"I cannot tell you that, Cyndaquil, it is not my story to tell."

"Who _are_ you anyway, and why did you help us?"

Ember sighed, his deep red eyes seemed older than he looked and reflected his sadness and pain.

"As you know," he began, his voice echoing around the cave. "The Ferrys Region has been pulled into an age of darkness by none other than the Time Lord, Dialga."

"Is that Primal Dialga?" Aren asked.

"Yes, Cyndaquil. Primal Dialga has ruled Ferrys with an iron fist and Hydro and I are part of an elite group aimed to stop him. We are the rebels and the victims. Many of us have been torn apart from our families or have seen death and destruction. We work under the guise of an exploration team, but what we are really fighting for, is the freedom of Ferrys and its Pokémon from Dialga."

Aren and Oren looked at him with a new respect, deepened with every word he spoke.

"Is it possible that we could join?" Oren asked suddenly.

Aren looked to the Squirtle in alarm at such a decleration.

Hydro looked amused at such a request but Ember only nodded.

"If you are willing to fight Dialga and his forces for the sake of freedom, I don't see why not."

Oren nearly cheered while Aren's mind buzzed.

_I know Oren promised to be a friend, but isn't this a little to rushed? _He thought worriedly. _Should I help him?_

While Oren gazed at Ember in appreciation, Aren made his decision.

"I'd like to join as well."

And the little Cyndaquil didn't know, that by saying those six little words, his fate would be sealed.


End file.
